Apr 25, 2012

On 25 April 2012 Novozymes and Syngenta agreed to a new partnership on JumpStart®, a product which enhances phosphate fertility in agriculture. They signed a global agreement and will work together on developing this technology with Syngenta’s Seed Care.
JumpStart® is currently sold in North America so this new partnership extends its potential sales around the world. It has been developed for corn, canola, wheat, legumes and other crops. Overall, the market potential for this technology is estimated at over US$100 million.

JumpStart® is a seed-applied biological technology that increases phosphate solubilization in the soil. It is based on unique fungus Penicillium bilaii. Phosphorus is an essential macro-nutrient for the healthy growth of young plants. JumpStart® acts as a phosphate inoculant that grows along the root making more soil and fertilizer phosphate available to the plant to deliver healthier crops and higher net returns.

Novozymes is headquartered in Denmark with U.S. operations based in North Carolina. According to Executive Vice President Thomas Videbaek, “Partnering with Syngenta supports Novozymes’ strategic goal to provide the world with natural and biological solutions to help farmers worldwide increase their yields to feed the world's growing population.”

Syngenta is a Swiss based multinational chemical company with seed and pesticides lines of business. Syngenta COO John Atkin noted that this agreement with Novozymes furthers "our growing range of bioactives."